US National Championship Exams

During the US National Championships (for both Varsity & Junior Varsity and Elementary & Middle School divisions), International Academic Competitions organizes National Championship Exams across numerous academic disciplines. The exams will be offered on various fields of history, science, and political science as explained below. Ambitious Elementary and Middle School students are also welcome to compete in the Junior Varsity Division of the exams which are offered at JV Nationals in April (though the questions will be written at a challenging high school level of difficulty).

Each exam will consist of multiple choice questions with each correct answer worth 2 points, an incorrect response worth -1 point, and an answer left blank worth 0 points. The time limit will be 25 minutes for each exam. Ties will be broken through tiebreaker questions with numerical answers. Students will be ranked against other students in their age division, and the top three students in each division will earn medals. No prior qualification is needed to take any of the exams. Varsity and Junior Varsity exams have 75 questions, 7th & 8th Grade exams have 70 questions, 5th & 6th Grade exams have 60 questions, and 4th Grade and Younger exams have 50 questions.

A complete schedule of exams and all other events at the IAC National Championships can be found on the relevant page of the Nationals website here. Exams and answer keys from past years can be found under each exam’s description.

For the 2023-24 season, the following exams are being offered at each division’s US National Championships:

Exams at Both Nationals:

  • American Geography
  • Ancient History
  • Biology
  • Environmental Science
  • Historical Geography
  • Map & Flag
  • Recent History
  • Women’s History

Exams at Middle & Elementary School Nationals Only:

  • Asian Geography
  • Asian History
  • Black American History
  • Earth Science
  • European Geography
  • Ornithology
  • Physical Science
  • Political Science
  • US Military History

Exams at Varsity & Junior Varsity Nationals Only:

  • Art History
  • Business and Economics
  • Chemistry
  • European History
  • Military History
  • Psychology
Asian History Exam

National American Geography Exam

This exam will feature questions on the geography of the 50 United States, Washington DC, the territories of the USA, and the territorial waters of the USA. Questions will focus on physical, cultural, and political geography. Certain questions may require knowledge of some abstract geographic concepts and geographic terminology, but the primary focus of this exam will be on factual knowledge, instead of applied and theoretical geography (in contrast to the US Geography Championships).

Asian History Exam

National Ancient History Exam

This exam will focus on European history up until the year 500 CE. It will also cover the history of the Americas through the year 1550, the history of Asia through the year 1200, the history of Africa until 1400, and the history of Oceania until 1500. Approximately 20% of this exam will focus on the history of the ancient Middle East (including Iran) and North Africa, 30% will focus on the history of Ancient Greece and Rome, 5% on the history of the Americas, 5% on Sub-Saharan Africa, 5% on Oceania and Southeast Asia, 15% will focus on Ancient East Asia, and 10% will focus on the history of South and Central Asia, with the remaining 10% distributed across multiple regions on the same question, or from any region.

Asian History Exam

National Art History Exam

This exam will cover the visual arts from prehistory to the present-day and generally follow the AP Art History curriculum in terms of content distribution, though all questions will be multiple-choice. This exam will use slides of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and other media. Students should be familiar with not just famous artists and their works, but also the cultural context in which they were created, and be able to identify the significance of the works that will be referenced on the exam.

Asian History Exam

National Asian Geography Exam

This exam will cover the cultural, human, physical, and political geography of Asia. For purposes of this exam, Asia will be said to include the following: Sinai Peninsula, Anatolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan east of the Ural River, Russia east of the continental divide of the Ural Mountains, all of Indonesia, the Maldives, and other offshore nations like Japan and the Philippines that are typically considered Asian. It will not include East Timor, Papua New Guinea, or the Russian portion of the Caucasus. Questions will be broadly distributed, and students should be prepared to answer questions on Asian cultural practices, languages, economic geography, and more, in addition to capital cities, landforms, bodies of water, etc.

Asian History Exam

National Asian History Exam

This exam will cover the full sweep of Asian history from the dawn of history in the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia to the present-day. Approximately 25% of the exam will cover the history of China and approximately 25% of the exam will cover the history of India. Central Asia, Southeast Asia (including Indonesia), and the Middle East (including the Arabian Peninsula) will be treated as well.

Biology Exam

National Biology Exam

This exam will cover all aspects of a standard high school biology curriculum with particular emphasis placed on topics that are also covered in the AP Exam. Topics covered will include molecular and cellular biology, ecology, anatomy, taxonomy, evolution, genetics, and more.

National Black American History Exam

This exam will cover all aspects of Black American history from the colonial period to the present day. Those taking this exam should study famous African-Americans and related historical events from the fields of politics, business, sports and entertainment, science, the Civil Rights Movement, abolitionism, literature, the arts, and more.

National Business & Economics Exam

This exam will focus on basic topics in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and business. This exam will lean more towards the practical application of economic and business knowledge than on theoretical concepts. A particular focus of this exam will be American companies and their operations in the national and global economy. This exam will also lean heavily on current events; students looking to take this exam are thus recommended to read informed newspapers and periodicals that cover the global economy, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist.

Chemistry Exam

National Chemistry Exam

This exam will cover all aspects of a standard high school chemistry curriculum with particular emphasis placed on topics that are also covered in the AP Exam. Topics covered will include stoichiometry, nuclear chemistry, organic chemistry, bonding, the periodic table, and more.

National Earth Science Exam

This exam will focus on earth science broadly speaking, including geology, volcanology, oceanography, astronomy (which will comprise about 15-20%), meteorology, and hydrology. There will be a limited amount of physical geography and ecology (as those topics are covered in other National Championships Exams). The content, difficulty, and question distribution will be similar to prior years’ National Earth Science Exams – thus students should review past exam versions to gain a sense of what sort of questions to expect.

Ecology & Environmental Science Exam

National Environmental Science Exam

This exam will cover all aspects of ecology and environmental science with particular emphasis placed on topics that are also covered on the AP Environmental Science Exam. Topics covered will include ecosystems, conservation biology, global warming and climate change, food webs, biogeochemistry, environmental degradation, biogeography, and human ecology. All registration fees from the National Environmental Science Exam are donated directly to the Rainforest Alliance to be used for rainforest conservation education purposes.

Ecology & Environmental Science Exam

National European Geography Exam

This exam will cover the cultural, human, physical, and political geography of Europe. For purposes of this exam, Europe will be said to include the following: Iceland, Faroe Islands, Svalbard, Cyprus, Malta, Kazakhstan west of the Ural River, Russia west of the continental divide of the Ural Mountains, and the three Macaronesian archipelagoes that belong to European countries. It will not include Greenland, Anatolia, or any questions on Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Questions will be broadly distributed, and students should be prepared to answer questions on European cultural practices, languages, economic geography, and more, in addition to capital cities, landforms, bodies of water, etc.

Ecology & Environmental Science Exam

National European History Exam

This exam will cover the history of Europe from the dawn of history in ancient Greece to the present-day. This exam will cover ancient, medieval, and modern European History. From 1500 CE onward, it will broadly reflect the AP European History curriculum in terms of content distribution, though all questions will be multiple-choice. Students should be familiar with people, events, cultural movements, the historical geography of Europe, and Europe’s place in the world today. Compared to the AP exam, there may be a slightly higher proportion of question on post-World War II events. 

Historical Geography Exam

National Historical Geography Exam

This exam will cover the impact of geography on historical events, and examine questions of population movements, shifts in national and imperial borders, the spread of languages and religions, exploration and trade patterns, military campaigns, and more. This exam is neither part of the US Geography Championships nor the National Geography Bee and is open to everyone; unlike those events, it does not require prior qualification.

Latin American History Exam

National Map & Flag Exam

This visually-based exam will ask students to identify maps and flags of different countries, states, cities, and other geographical entities. For the map section, students will also be asked to interpret maps and use spacial reasoning skills to answer questions that do not require prior knowledge of geographic locations, but do require a student to use maps in the way that a professional geographer would do. Students looking for examples of questions of this nature should review past cartographic questions from the US Geography Championships.

Military History Exam

National Military History Exam

This exam will cover all facets of military history from ancient civilizations to the present-day. In addition to battles and wars, questions will also cover military technology, strategy and tactics, and how military outcomes shaped the contours of history. US military history will be covered by approximately 30% of the questions.

Latin American History Exam

National Ornithology Exam

IAC’s official mascot is a parakeet named Maui (she’s depicted in the logo at left, and is also our office pet at our HQ in Burlington). We’re pretty sure she’s excited about the debut of the National Ornithology Exam, though she’s probably even more excited about her next dish of Vermont apple cider, her favorite treat. In any case, you can test your knowledge about all of your feathered friends in this exam, for which we’ll be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Rainforest Alliance.

National Physical Science Exam

This exam will cover all aspects of introductory level chemistry and basic aspects of physics. Among the topics covered will be the periodic table of the elements, technology and practical applications of physics and chemistry, the history of chemistry and physics, physical equations and principles, nuclear and particle physics, molecules and bonds, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physical chemistry.

National Political Science Exam

The National Political Science Exam is meant to challenge students with relevant and unbiased questions about topics that are useful to know about for being an astute observer of domestic and international affairs. It is also meant to prepare students for the Varsity and Junior Varsity level National Political Science Bee. Note that the Junior Varsity competition of the NPSB is open to students in 8th grade and younger as well, but it is only contested at Varsity and Junior Varsity National Championships in late April in Arlington, VA. Thus younger students who qualify and are interested in competing in the Junior Varsity Division at the National Championships would need to compete there rather than at Middle and Elementary School Nationals. This exam covers all aspects of Political Science, with a distribution of questions by topic approximately in line with the distributions for the National Political Science Bee available here.

National Psychology Exam

This exam will broadly reflect the AP Psychology curriculum, and is a particularly good review for any students who will be taking the AP Psychology Exam this year, two weeks after this exam is given. A particular focus of this exam will be on the history of psychology, but students should also be familiar with psychopathology, theories of the mind, different schools of psychology, and neurobiology among other topics.

NHBB

National Recent History Exam

This exam covers historical developments of the past few decades dating back to January 1, 2000. While the history of this time period is often not taught comprehensively in the classroom, an understanding of the recent past is even more useful for our daily lives than the history of more distant eras. The National Recent History Exam will cover developments in political, social, cultural, economic, and other areas of history. Both World and US history will be covered in the questions.

Women's History Exam

National US Military History Exam

This exam will cover all facets of US military history from the Revolutionary War to the present-day. In addition to battles and wars, questions will also cover military technology, strategy and tactics, and how military outcomes shaped the contours of history.

Women's History Exam

National Women’s History Exam

This exam will cover the history of women in the context of American history from the colonial period until the present day. Questions will focus on famous women and their contributions to American society, the women’s suffrage and women’s liberation movements, and questions of cultural and economic history.